How to prepare and transport seedlings to a summer cottage?

Spring has come, which means that there is very little time left for preparing the soil, planning gardening work and transporting seedlings. The usual dacha chores at the beginning of the season are no longer scary, but how to transport the seedlings to the dacha without harming the immature plants? There are a few everyday tips for this.

What to do before shipping?

It is possible and necessary to "pack" the seedlings in a hurry if there is a personal transport, and it takes no more than an hour to get to your favorite site on a good road.

But if you and your plants are scheduled to travel through public transport, and even transplant, it's best to create simple yet effective protection for each root.

Provide seedlings:

• shade and coolness for the entire time of transportation (overheating, garden crops will definitely get injured);
• suitable containers from scrap materials;
• the usual microclimate for several hours.

About packaging

When going to the dacha by car, it is more correct to pack the seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers and other plants in tall fruit boxes. Usually, such containers are either bought or taken for free from any retail network. The main thing is that the wooden or cardboard container withstand the load, and its sides are not inferior in height to the tops of young plants.

In the case of public transport, you need to pick up the packaging lighter, because several boxes are an essential load for a backpack or bag.

It is better to free seedlings without an individual pot from excess soil by wrapping the roots with a damp cloth or newspaper. It will turn out very compact and easy.

Advice

Tomatoes do not need a lot of liquid at the time of transportation. Saturated with moisture in moderation, the tomatoes will be slightly pulled up, but they will definitely not be damaged.

For convenience, it is better to free seedlings in individual glasses or bags from excess soil, leaving only the soil on the main root. To prevent the roots from breaking, wrap them with paper. As a result, young plants will fit in a simple cardboard box, and the total weight will not exceed five kilograms.

How to protect young leaves and stems? In this situation, use plastic bottles cut for the stem. Covered with a homemade "cap", the seedling is insured against injury, plus the plastic temporarily creates a greenhouse effect.

How to put seedlings in boxes?

Prepared seedlings of nightshade, pumpkin and vegetable crops cannot be carried in a bag or a summer backpack. Light boxes will be needed. It is ideal to choose 3 or 4 of the same. They are easy to arrange, and you will not confuse seedlings in this form.

For rigidity, it is better to take unnecessary slats, scraps of cardboard, plywood scraps. Anything that is not useful at home, and also weighs little, will come off as material for packaging and transportation.

It is good to make newspaper strips between the rows of seedlings. Then the plants won't mix or get damaged. If you plan to transport it in several boxes packed in a column, then you cannot do without a lid. Then the seedlings are not afraid of transplants, overcrowded buses and electric trains. Plants are well protected, for example, like small parcels.

Weather conditions for transportation

They transport "favorite varieties" both by car and by public transport on a calm, sunny day. A suitable temperature is at least 15 degrees.

Before arrival, it is advisable to prepare the soil in advance to preserve the growing crops.

Advice

Take seedlings as many as will be planted in a day. It's hard to plant everything right away, and the variety of seeds allows you to stretch the planting period for more than one day.

Arrival at the dacha

So, the path from home to the site has been passed.How to work and relax at the same time on this day?

Do not rush to plant the plants right away, let them recover from the road and the resulting "stress". To do this, in a cool place (a change house, a veranda or a shed is suitable), place a container with seedlings. A couple of hours will be enough for plants to rest. And during this time, preparing the soil is not a problem.

Summarizing…

A good harvest is not easily grown, but the preparation and transportation of seedlings is a very crucial stage. It is not worth delaying the transportation, because by this moment there should be 3-4 leaves on the seedlings, no more.

It happens that some of the plants are still injured, so it is better to remove the damaged leaves, and leave the unsuccessful specimens as fertilizer. As a result, further timely watering and careful soil cultivation by the end of summer will not leave you without a good harvest.